Which case declared state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and White students unconstitutional?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Dred Scott v. Sandford
• C. Brown v. Board of Education
• D. Lemon v. Kurtzman

Answer: (C)

This question centers on the ruling that ended legal segregation in public schools. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) held that state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and White students violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because separate facilities are inherently unequal. This decision explicitly overturned the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson framework of “separate but equal” and asserted that segregation in education denied Black students equal opportunities. The court also drew on social science evidence about the damaging effects of segregation on children’s development and self-perception, reinforcing why separate schools could not be equal.

Dred Scott v. Sandford is about citizenship and rights in the pre-C Civil War era, not school segregation. Lemon v. Kurtzman deals with the Establishment Clause and government funding related to religion in schools. Plessy v. Ferguson itself legalized segregation under “separate but equal,” which Brown later rejected.